This invention relates to appliances adapted to train dogs to refrain from barking by discouraging barking through the means of an obnoxious odor or irritant sprayed onto or into the vicinity of the dog""s nose upon the occasion of the dog barking.
In the prior art, it has been proposed that a dog may be either trained to not bark or at least to discourage a dog from barking by detecting the bark of the dog and thereupon expressing into the vicinity of the dog""s nose a spray of either a liquid or powdered material which is obnoxious to the dog. Commonly, the bark detector and the spray apparatus are secured to a collar which encircles the dog""s neck. These appliances have proven to suffer shortcomings. For example, in the instance where the flow of the spray material from the reservoir is controlled by a solenoid functioning as a valve, when the spray material within the reservoir is not present at the exit port of the reservoir, the solenoid, in response to a detected barking by the dog, malfunctions and no material is sprayed from the reservoir. Moreover, the appliances suffer from the need for frequent replacement or replenishment of the source of the sprayable material due to the permissible size of the storage reservoir for the sprayable material.
In view of the relatively small volume of spray material which can be stored in a reservoir attached to the dog""s collar, hence the frequency at which the reservoir will require refilling or replacement of a canister in the case of a pressurized canister of the spray material, it becomes important that the appliance provide for consumption of all or a maximum amount of the spray material which is held in the reservoir before a refilling or replenishment of the reservoir is needed. Moreover, in the instance where the spray material is contained within a pressurized canister, it is important from an economic standpoint that all of the spray material within the canister be dispensed before the canister is replaced. In any event, it is not desirable from a training standpoint that there be inconsistent dispensing of spray material at those times when the dog barks.
Irrespective of the location of the exit port of a reservoir of a spray material, the level of spray material within a reservoir, whether pressurized or not, is a function of the orientation of the reservoir attached to the dog""s collar, with the orientation of the dog""s collar being a function of the orientation of the dog""s neck at any given time. Obviously, these degrees of orientation vary quite widely and often, but most frequently, the orientation of the plane occupied by a collar encircling a dog""s neck will assume at least a semi-vertical orientation aside from those times when the dog is lying on its side with its head aligned with its body. And dogs do not commonly bark when so reclining so that activation of the spray mechanism is not required under such circumstances.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, in an appliance adapted to dissuade a dog from barking, there is provided a reservoir of spray material associated with a collar which encircles the dog""s neck. The reservoir, in a preferred embodiment, includes at least one wall member defining an interior volume for the receipt of spray material therein. The reservoir includes a first dimension (i.e., a centerline) which lies within the median sattital plane of an erect dog which is facing forward as depicted in FIG. 1 thereby orienting one portion of the interior of the reservoir vertically lowermost.
An exit port is provided for the transport of spray material from the interior to the exterior of the reservoir. Most commonly, the reservoir further includes an inlet port for refilling the reservoir with the sprayable material. A semi-rigid, lengthwise substantially non-compressible conduit, having a first end thereof connected in fluid flow communication with the exit port, extends from the exit port and terminates at its opposite and open end at the vertically lowermost interior portion of the reservoir when the present appliance is mounted at a location on the collar beneath the lower jaw of the dog. The length of the conduit is chosen to exceed the straight-line distance between the exit port and the vertically lowermost portion of the reservoir by an amount sufficient to provide for wedging of the conduit against at least one interior wall of the reservoir opposite the exit port and preferably opposite the terminal open end of the conduit.
In a preferred embodiment, the reservoir of the appliance includes first and second opposite ends and four side walls which define a reservoir of substantially rectangular geometry. In this preferred embodiment, one of the end walls of the reservoir is disposed within a plane which is inclined relative to a horizontal transverse plane of the erect dog which is facing forwardly as depicted in FIG. 1, when the reservoir is oriented angularly with respect to the median sagittal plane of the erect dog as noted above. In like manner, where the reservoir is of a hollow cylindrical geometry or other elongated geometry, one of the end walls of the reservoir is disposed within a like plane. Similarly, where the reservoir comprises a hollow spherical geometry, and a diameter of the reservoir is oriented angularly with respect to the vertical as noted above, there will be a portion of the reservoir which is lowermost relative to the vertical and, in this instance, lowermost relative to the horizontal.
Irrespective of the location of the exit port of spray material from the reservoir, in accordance with the present invention the conduit is fully contained within the reservoir and extends from the exit port to a location adjacent that portion of the reservoir which is disposed vertically lowermost when the reservoir is associated with the dog""s collar, the collar is disposed in encircling relationship to the dog""s neck and the dog""s head is held erect when barking.
A first end of the conduit is connected in fluid communication with the exit port and the second and opposite end is open for the flow of spray material from the reservoir into the conduit. To ensure both the initial and continued positioning of the open end of the conduit adjacent the vertically lowermost portion of the reservoir, the conduit is chosen to be of a length which permits bending or otherwise shaping of the conduit into at least a partial loop which extends from the exit port to engage at least one internal side wall of the reservoir opposite the exit port, thence along and engaging at least a portion of the length dimension of the internal side wall, thence in a direction away from the internal side wall and toward said vertically lowermost portion of the reservoir. The open end of the conduit terminates within or immediately adjacent the vertically lowermost portion of the reservoir, in position to be in fluid communication with the spray material of a full or partially full reservoir, or with even a minimal volume of spray material contained only within the vertically lowermost portion of the reservoir.